Less than a week after announcing their plans to marry in May 2018, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended their first official royal engagement together as a couple.

The pair visited a Terrence Higgins Trust charity fair for World AIDS Day, where they'll meet with reps from organizations supporting victims of AIDS—a special cause for the prince and his late mother, Princess Diana.

They're also scheduled to meet with and talk to staff from Nottingham Academy who are involved in the Full Effect program, which prevents young people from turning to violence and crime.

Royal fans lined the streets in Nottingham to watch the couple make their long-awaited appearance.

Battered by the tabloids—to the point where her boyfriend, Prince Harry, issued a statement defending her—actress and activist Meghan Markle has largely ignored the media storm. And as Markle tells Vanity Fair about her bi-racial background, her romance, and her hit series, Suits, it seems that this 36-year-old American may be just the woman for Britain’s iconoclastic royal.

Meghan Markle was going to London. She had a week’s hiatus before returning to Toronto to film the 100th episode of Suits, a surprise-hit series on the USA Network, now in its seventh season. On a rainy afternoon in June, Markle came to her front door and welcomed me into her home, on a quiet, tree-lined street in Toronto. Markle was wearing a red, knee-length floral dress (“Erdem, a designer I’ve been wearing for years”), with her rescue dogs, Bogart and Guy, wagging their tails beside her. A slim brunette with a lightly freckled, glowing complexion and an upturned nose, she looks like the sun-kissed California girl she’s always been.

Markle had prepared a lunch of organic greens, a crusty bread to be dipped in olive oil, and pasta tossed with chilies bought from “a little place called Terroni, which they have in L.A. and in Toronto. They’re really hot, but if you’re good with heat, then I think they’re going to be your new favorite thing . . . I’ll give you a little jar to take home.” Her warmth is genuine. She seems to be the happy genius of her home of seven years. “Seven Canadian winters!” she exclaims about her time filming Suits. “A long time for someone who grew up in Southern California.” She has tried to make her Canadian house look like a California bungalow, exposing the hardwood floors and letting in as much light as possible.

Meghan Markle may not be royalty yet, but she's already being treated like a princess by her growing, adoring fan base.

The 36-year-old former actress, who recently left the show Suits and quit show business altogether, stepped out on Friday with fiancé Prince Harry for their first official outing since Monday, when they announced their engagement. The two visited the English city of Nottingham and greeted a cheering crowd.

Meghan has been gaining fans since she began dating Harry in 2016 and is now more popular than ever. Her engagement to Harry has sparked widespread interest in her fashion choices, her parents, her past love life and her humanitarian work. And it seems the public has welcomed Meghan as the prince's bride-to-be—and an expected future duchess—with open arms.

We all have that woman who, in some way, changed our lives for the better. In actress and philanthropist Meghan Markle's case, there are 10. Here, the "Suits" star (catch the 100th episode of the USA Network's show on August 30th!) shares her very personal—and inspiring— list.

The real Cinderella story featured an outcast, unnamed daughter of a marriage torn asunder, bequeathed to a stepmother and two insufferably spoiled old sisters, who drew her name from the black soot that soiled her skin doing household chores. In a stunning turn of events, she was able to crash a private party designed to find the prince a wife, wearing a borrowed gown and scrubbed free of the substance that darkened her skin, and charmed him to the dismay of others.

It's a tale we've told children for nearly half a millennia, that love prevails over class, social status — and, perhaps in the 21st century, ethnicity. But, at it's core, it's also about a woman stained dark so as to render her obviously undesirable until, scrubbed into whiteness, she is able to attract the favor of a prince.

So maybe it's not fair to call Meghan Markle's engagement to Prince Harry a "Cinderella" story, even if you're referring to the far-superior 1997 movie version starring Brandy and Whitney Houston, leading an all-black cast, and even if she is descended from one-time British royalty on her father's side… and an enslaved American on her mother's.

Markle is a biracial woman who affirms her black American heritage, the child of an African American mother and a Caucasian father who split when Markle was two but raised their child into a grounded woman who was aware of the dichotomies imposed upon her because Americans’ thick lines of racial caste, and wholly aware of the inequities in society growing up on Los Angeles. She had a pretty American upper middle class existence, including a private elementary and secondary school education and an undergraduate degree from an elite American university. After that, she pursued an acting career while working a series of odd jobs until she landed the role of Rachel Zane in "Suits," in part, she 's written, because the producers weren't seeking to cast the part for a particular kind of "look."

No one, not even Markle, could have ever imagined that someone like her would ever be permitted to marry a prince. And yet, the British aristocrat will marry an American paradox, and it all feels very right and true — except to those people to whom it is unfathomable not so much that a prince might marry a "commoner" or an American or a divorcée (as that's already happened), but that he might marry one who isn't white.

One thing you can count on for a healthy, hearty breakfast? Avocado toast, like this yummy-looking dish Markle had in London. If you can get it served on multi-grain bread, even better! Travel breakfasts don't have to be fancy. They just need to give you enough fuel for a day of sightseeing... or beach lounging. (If you want to make some avocado toast of your own, check out these 30 Awesome Avocado Toast Recipes.)

Pick Smart Snacks

Need a little something between meals? Markle went for olives and nuts with her aperitif in Positano, Italy—a snack that delivers a quick hit of protein and healthy fats that will keep you full until dinner. (For more on why you should eat nuts, read about their surprising health benefits.)

It's All a Balance

When in Spain, bread is a must, but you can even it out with a hearty salad filled with delicious veggies. "I try to eat vegan during the week and then have a little bit more flexibility with what I dig into on the weekends. But at the same time, it's all about balance," she told Best Health in an interview.

According to royal historian Hugo Vickers, Queen Elizabeth II has a system of subtle codes that indicate to those around her that she's ready to wrap it up.

Apparently the Queen typically stands with her purse tucked into the crook of her left arm, but when she casually shifts her pocketbook to her right arm it signals to her handlers that she's ready to move on. They then swoop in and politely usher her away from the conversation.

Thankfully, this has typically been done very kindly. "Someone would come along and say, 'Sir, the Archbishop of Canterbury would very much like to meet you,'" Vickers told People.

But if things get a even dicier, the Queen indicates that she's ready to cut it out pronto by either spinning her ring or placing her bag on the floor. So sneaky!

And it isn't just the Queen who invokes these subtle tricks — the Duchess of Cambridge also reportedly uses her purse to avoid uncomfortable encounters. She typically holds a clutch purse in front of her with both hands to avoid any clumsy handshakes.

While we may not be royalty, these are some crazy tricks we're definitely going to try out at our next awkward party!

Chef, culinary instructor and caterer Darren McGrady knows a thing or two about hosting epic dinner parties: As the former chef to England's royal family — first for Queen Elizabeth II in the royal kitchen at Buckingham Palace and then as the personal chef for Princess Diana at Kensington Palace — he cooked not just for the royals, but for celebrities and dignitaries from all over the world.

After 15 years with the royal family, McGrady moved to the U.S. and became a personal chef to a family in Texas. He now runs a catering company in the Dallas area, where he helps his clients with high-end events, teaches cooking classes and leads culinary tours.

With those upper-crust credentials, you might assume that any recipes McGrady shares would be way too fussy for a home cook. But the recipes in his new book, "The Royal Chef at Home: Easy Seasonal Entertaining," are approachable for cooks of all skill levels and he includes plenty of timesaving tips and make-ahead options. McGrady told TODAY Food that he wanted to showcase "recipes that were foolproof — to the standard of what I did at Buckingham Palace but doable as a home chef."

With one of the year's biggest food holidays fast approaching, McGrady shared five recipes for a full Christmas dinner: Each dish has a connection to the royal family, but you don't need the skills of a royal chef to make them.

With a little planning, you'll be able to relax and enjoy the meal with your friends and family, instead of running back and forth between the kitchen and dining room. After all, says McGrady, your guests aren't coming over for a restaurant-style experience, but "they are coming over for your company."

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